Sharks need upset to glory in six-point reward

March 16 2003By Michael Lynch

Reigning National Soccer League champions Olympic Sharks will be hoping that bottom-of-the-table Marconi can cause one of the upsets of the season tonight when it hosts powerhouse Perth Glory in the final match of the home-and-away season.

If it can, then the Sharks will go into the new-look championship play-offs on top of the ladder - an honour that would allow them to start the 10-match finals series with a six-point head start.

But if the Glory wins, as most would expect, then it is the West Australians who will begin the business end of the season with the six-point advantage, while the second-placed Sharks would get a three-point start. The rest of the top six begin the campaign on zero points.

The Sharks are in a position to challenge for the top spot after their 3-0 win on Friday night over another finalist, Adelaide City, at Cronulla. Two goals from striker Ante Milicic, the NSL's most expensive player who is just back from injury, and another from midfielder Tommy Pondeljak allowed them tocruise home.

They are now one point clear of Perth, but it has a better goal difference, so even a draw against the lowly Stallions should be enough for Mich d'Avray's team. Whichever side finishes on top will be the favourite to end up on top of the finals series mini-league (when each of the top six play each other, home and away), thus gaining the right to host the grand final.");document.write("

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Victoria's interest in the finals campaign is academic, with neither the Melbourne Knights nor South Melbourne qualifying for the play-offs. It is the first time in the 28-year history of the NSL that no Victorian side has been involved in the championship race.

In Auckland today, South plays the Football Kingz with only pride at stake. South has yet to appoint a coach, who will have the pressing task of culling a growing list of ageing players.

The Knights have already started the process, aided by the recent retirement of club captain and former Socceroo skipper Steve Horvat.

The Knights team that beat Wollongong 2-1 at WIN Stadium on Friday night had 11 fresh faces - virtually all of them teenagers - in the starting line-up or on the bench. One was 16-year-old Serkan Oksuz, who gave the Sunshine club victory with a goal in the 85th minute.